Clinical Use of 4DCT

Daniel Low, Ph.D. Director, Division of Medical Physics Radiation Oncology Washington University

Colleagues
Wei Lu Parag Parikh James Hubenschmidt Jeffrey Bradley Sasa Mutic Joe Repp Sasa Wahab Issam El Naqa Gary Christensen

Washington University School of Medicine Department of Radiation Oncology

Outline
Why is 4D CT necessary? What is 4D CT? How do we characterize breathing? What do we do with 4D CT information?

Outline
Why is 4D CT necessary? What is 4D CT? How do we characterize breathing? What do we do with 4D CT information?

Why is 4D CT Necessary?
Breathing
Quasi-voluntary function Breath hold possible Modification of breathing pattern possible

Motion
Image artifacts Dose-delivery artifacts Increases irradiated volume/treatment complexity

Image Artifact Reduction

Rietzel med phys 32 874

Treatment Effects
Breathing motion increases the apparent size of the tumor
Increases portal sizes Increases normal organ irradiation

Motion Blurring

Required Margin

= 10 mm McCarter and Beckham, PMB 2001

Effects of Motion on IMRT

Blurring of IMRT dose distributions Interplay effects Dose deformation (interface effects) How big are these effects?

Interplay Effects

Simulate dynamic IMRT field and moving tumor

Yu et al, PMB 1998

Examples of Dose Error

1 cm wide slit beam, 3 cm amplitude, 4 s breathing period

Interplay: Fractionated
Fractionated therapy tends to blur dose errors Beam motion tends to be orthogonal to patient motion

Multiple simulations with realistic IMRT dose distributions Analyzed multiple points to determine dose error due to motion Results: Dose error depended on whether point was in/near steep dose gradient region, but dose was local average Bortfeld et al, PMB 2002

Outline
Why is 4D CT necessary? What is 4D CT? How do we characterize breathing What do we do with 4D CT information?

What is 4D CT?
Process for obtaining image datasets
Images used to determine tumor/normal organ motion Motion information used as inputs for treatment planning, delivery, verification

Ultimate goal is NOT 4D CT image dataset

It is a model for breathing motion that can be used for planning, delivery, verification

However, we are not there yet

Some Issues to Address

Breathing is not perfectly periodic No electronic monitorable surrogate (metric) such as with cardiac gating CT images are acquired throughout breathing cycle
Not in the same physical location

How do we register images acquired at different times?

Metric Chest Height

Chest Height (Varian RPM) Infrared reflective marker placed on abdomen

Vedam et al Med Phys 30, 505 (2003)

Metric - Spirometry
Turbine-shaped fan encased in tube Rotation rate determines flow rate Software removes nonlinearities and integrates flow

4D CT Process
Image acquisition
Cin or helical modes
Simultaneous monitoring of patient breathing

Cin acquires CT images without moving the couch

Images are typically selected from a sequence of acquired images according to breathing phase

Helical mode
Easiest for commercial applications: uses cardiac gating software

Synchronization Signal Spirometer CT Data Philips Brilliance 16-slice CT Scanner

Philips Bellows

Bronchial Branch 12-Slice mode Spirometry Tidal Volume Acquisition Spirometry Drift Correction

DICOM Transfer

Volume-Gated Images

Acquisition Process
Motion Model Parameter Determination

98 ml time 94 ml 90 ml

3D CT At 100 ml

volume

Gating
Have process that
Acquires CT images Sorts CT images using metric data

However
What criteria are used to determine the patients breathing phase associated with each image?
Inhalation Exhalation

Breathing Cycle Definition

Amplitude
Breathing phase defined by depth of breathing

Phase Angle
Breathing cycle described as purely periodic process Inhalation exhalation defined by angles from 0-360 degrees
Vedam et al, PMB 2003

Phase vs. Amplitude

Amplitude
Tidal Volume (ml)

Select mid-inspiration
Mid-inspiration defined by percentile tidal volumes

Tidal Volume (ml)

Phase

Mid-inspiration defined by time between exhalation and inhalation peaks Time (s)

Amplitude sorting

Phase sorting

Amplitude vs Phase

What 4D CT Can Do

Clinical Images
Difficulties with amplitude-based retrospective gating is that images are not necessarily acquired at the same breathing phase for each couch position Interpolation may be a method for interpolating to a common breathing phase Requires a deformable map of motion

Interpolation using optical flow deformation: Removal of Residual Artifacts

Erhardt et al, SPIE 2006

Quality Assurance
Accuracy of 4D process Phantoms developed to QA process Some operate in 1D, periodic
Breathing is non-periodic Breathing motion is 3D

QA of 4D
Independent 3D Digitizer Motorized Stages

Example: Calypso

QA of 4D

What Next?
We have a method for describing breathing cycle We can create 3D image datasets at specific breathing phases What do we do with this info? A) Create 3D CT at specific phases
Contour these phases and use the data

B) Use CT data to fit a motion model

Model will be used to drive treatment planning

Outline
Why is 4D CT necessary? What is 4D CT? How do we characterize breathing? What do we do with 4D CT information?

Tumor Trajectories: What our Model Has To Be Able To Do

Seppenwoolde et al. Int. J. Radiation Oncology Biol. Phys., Vol. 53, No. 4, pp. 822834, 2002

Breathing Motion Modeling

Seppenwoolde, Red J 53, 822-834 2002

Breathing Motion Modeling

Seppenwoolde, Red J 53, 822-834 2002

Mathematical Model
Linear Approximation Breathing cycle is defined by Tidal Volume and Airflow Nonlinear motion comes from airflow f = dv/dt and shape of airflow curve

5D Breathing Motion Modeling

Points in Same Patient

0.62 mm

0.70 mm

0.66 mm

0.72 mm 0.46 mm 0.66 mm

Breathing
How do we define the breathing cycle? What is an inhalation and exhalation? How do the acquired images correspond to the actual tumor positions during treatment?
ITV creation requires accurate understanding of breathing cycle

How do we define a gating threshold?

Planning process Efficiency versus conformality

Breathing Patterns

Breathing Patterns

Good Gating Window

Regular Breather

v85

v90 v95 v98

vx = Volume at which patient had v or less volume x% of the time

v5

Irregular Breather

v85

v90 v95 v98

v5

V98 (93% of time) vs V85 (80% of time)

Amount of Motion We Want to Know Available 3D Image Datasets

Ratio 1.38 0.19

Images that cover 80% of breathing cycle show only 72% of the motion at 93% of the breathing cycle!

Outline
Why is 4D CT necessary? What is 4D CT? How do we characterize breathing? What do we do with 4D CT information?

Treatment Planning
Images provide Geometry (functional) data for treatment planning Treatment planning provides prediction of treatment course
Spatial uncertainties = margins Extrapolation

Breathing motion
ITV Gating Tracking

ITV

Gating
Spatial window
Determined by planning process via dosimetric considerations

4D CT and breathing motion model

Couples spatial window to fraction of time spent in that window Determines duty cycle

Planning system provides cost/benefit analysis of conformality versus delivery efficiency

Anteroposterior

Breathing Trajectories Breathing Trace During 4D CT

Spatial Window

Probability Distribution
Craniocaudal

Probability Determines Duty Cycle (efficiency)

Tracking
Tracking system require very accurate understanding of tumor position When you track the tumor, you untrack everything else
Critical structures define dose limits, not tumors

Planning system will need to provide predictions of normal organ doses

Tumor Tracking Methods (1/2)

Imaging + Surrogate
OBI Cone-beam CT Soft-tissue contrast of cone-beam CT used to identify tumor in 3D Surrogate maps motion and that map used to determine position throughout treatment (monitor surrogate)

Tumor Tracking Methods (2/2)

Implants
Implants + Surrogate
Fluoroscopic imaging systems

Implants alone
Calypso Medical

These systems will require significant developmental efforts

Conclusions
More quantitation is required! Amplitude-based gating = ability to extrapolate from existing image data 4D CT should be used as data to feed a mathematical/physical model of human breathing The model feeds the treatment planning process